Moray Eel

A moray eel is a family of eels known for their serpentine bodies and their fearsome appearance. Despite their snake-like look, they are fish and are found in tropical and temperate waters all over the world.

Moray eels have long, slender bodies with thick, scaleless skin covered in a protective layer of mucus. They have a continuous dorsal fin that runs from their head to their tail. Their jaws are wide and contain a fearsome set of sharp, backward-pointing teeth, which they use to grasp slippery prey. They often appear to be breathing with their mouths open, but this is simply a mechanism to move water over their gills.

Moray eels live in crevices and holes in coral reefs, rocky shorelines, and mangrove forests. They are ambush predators and hunt by concealing themselves and waiting for an unsuspecting meal to swim by. They have a highly developed sense of smell to compensate for their poor eyesight. A unique feature of moray eels is a second set of jaws, called pharyngeal jaws, located deep in their throat. When an eel catches its prey with its outer jaws, the pharyngeal jaws shoot forward, grab the prey, and pull it down the throat.

While they have a fearsome reputation, moray eels are not typically aggressive toward humans and will only bite if threatened or provoked. They are generally solitary and nocturnal, emerging from their hiding spots at night to hunt. Some species have been observed to participate in cooperative hunting with other fish, such as groupers, to flush prey out of the reef.